New Year's Eve
So.
Here we are. The last fading moments of the 2014, and what a year it was. Begun in London and ended in Beijing, it was a year that saw the conclusion of one adventure and the start of a new one. I went on vacation in Dublin, Ireland. I parted ways with some friends and made some new ones. I had a homecoming and spent time with family and friends I'd missed terribly during my time away. My brother got a new puppy, Meg, which proved a delight at every turn. I went with my mom to visit my Uncle Edward and his family in Hamilton, ON, and spent Thanksgiving with my Aunt Juanita, Uncle Kris, and cousins Curtis and Janna in Moncton, NB, reconnecting with them after nearly a decade since our last visit. I spent a lot of time in cars and planes and crossed two oceans, plus the whole width of Canada. You remember Sandra Bullock's While You Were Sleeping? How all her character wanted a stamp in her passport - preferably to Florence, Italy? London, Paris, Madrid, Dublin, Beijing - my passport is starting to look like a child's sticker book. It's awesome.
Careerwise, this year saw me transition from a part-time supply teacher in urban London to full-time classroom teacher at an international school in China. I have kiddies of my very own now and the freedom to decide my own lessons, my own classroom management. I'm at a new school that's still in its infancy and trying to find itself, still at a stage where I can be a part of its moulding, shaping its identity.
Yes, all in all, 2014 was a good year. One of the best.
Which brings us to...
I don't know what this year could bring, but then you never know until it's over, now do you? I have hopes, of course, hopes and dreams and goals and resolutions. But then, when the year is fresh and new, its ribbon of days yet begun, its path still untrod at your feet, all that possibility and potential can't help but glimmer and gleam, beckoning you forward with nothing but promise and mystery. It's unknown, a story still unwritten, and what better kind is there? Rung in with cheers and shouts and the pop of fireworks and a rain of glitter and streamers, like all the years that came before, let's hope that 2015 is everything we could hope for, its every promise fulfilled with joy and love.
And remember: even when your coach turns into a pumpkin and your gown turns into rags, you still get to keep the awesome shoes and the memory of a perfect night.
Happy New Year, everyone!
Here we are. The last fading moments of the 2014, and what a year it was. Begun in London and ended in Beijing, it was a year that saw the conclusion of one adventure and the start of a new one. I went on vacation in Dublin, Ireland. I parted ways with some friends and made some new ones. I had a homecoming and spent time with family and friends I'd missed terribly during my time away. My brother got a new puppy, Meg, which proved a delight at every turn. I went with my mom to visit my Uncle Edward and his family in Hamilton, ON, and spent Thanksgiving with my Aunt Juanita, Uncle Kris, and cousins Curtis and Janna in Moncton, NB, reconnecting with them after nearly a decade since our last visit. I spent a lot of time in cars and planes and crossed two oceans, plus the whole width of Canada. You remember Sandra Bullock's While You Were Sleeping? How all her character wanted a stamp in her passport - preferably to Florence, Italy? London, Paris, Madrid, Dublin, Beijing - my passport is starting to look like a child's sticker book. It's awesome.
Careerwise, this year saw me transition from a part-time supply teacher in urban London to full-time classroom teacher at an international school in China. I have kiddies of my very own now and the freedom to decide my own lessons, my own classroom management. I'm at a new school that's still in its infancy and trying to find itself, still at a stage where I can be a part of its moulding, shaping its identity.
Yes, all in all, 2014 was a good year. One of the best.
Which brings us to...
I don't know what this year could bring, but then you never know until it's over, now do you? I have hopes, of course, hopes and dreams and goals and resolutions. But then, when the year is fresh and new, its ribbon of days yet begun, its path still untrod at your feet, all that possibility and potential can't help but glimmer and gleam, beckoning you forward with nothing but promise and mystery. It's unknown, a story still unwritten, and what better kind is there? Rung in with cheers and shouts and the pop of fireworks and a rain of glitter and streamers, like all the years that came before, let's hope that 2015 is everything we could hope for, its every promise fulfilled with joy and love.
And remember: even when your coach turns into a pumpkin and your gown turns into rags, you still get to keep the awesome shoes and the memory of a perfect night.
Happy New Year, everyone!